Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Sacré-Cœur (Sacred Heart) Basilica's exterior, with its onion domes and bleached-
bone pallor, looks ancient, but was finished only a century ago by Parisians humiliated by
Germaninvaders.OttovonBismarck'sPrussianarmylaidsiegetoParisformorethanfour
months in 1870. Things got so bad for residents that urban hunting for dinner (to cook up
dogs, cats, and finally rats) became accepted behavior. Convinced they were being pun-
ished for the country's liberal sins, France's Catholics raised money to build the church as
a “praise the Lord anyway” gesture.
The five-domed, Roman-Byzantine-looking basilica took 44 years to build
(1875-1919). It stands on a foundation of 83 pillars sunk 130 feet deep, necessary because
the ground beneath was honeycombed with gypsum mines. The exterior is laced with
gypsum, which whitens with age.
